Shingle



lOct. 31, 1944.

l. C. ELLIS SHINGLE Filed arch .16, 1943 gnam Isaac 611371115* www] i Patented Oct. 31, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,361,831 SHINGLE Isaac c. Ellis, Ashaway, n. 1.

Application March 16, 1943, `Serial No. 479,353

' (C1. zei- 5) 2 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in shingles, particularly slate simulating shingles constructed of molded material such as asbestos which may be used either for covering roofs or preferably covering the clapboards of the side Walls of houses. At the present time it is necessary to nail the shingles to the wall to be covered at the top of each shingle and again nail through the bottom of each shingle overlapping the top of the lower shingle below it. The heads of the lower nails are always visible, such lower nail heads being exposed to the elements often rusting and providing rust streaks which mar the appearance of the whole house.

An object of my invention is to eliminate the aforesaid line of nails at the bottom of each row of shingles or each individual shingle, if staggered, and the'rust streaks produced thereby, thus saving one-half the number of nails previously employed. i

A further object of my invention is to -provide a shingle which can be attached in the manner above stated with one'set of nails only near the upper end thereof, the heads of which are readily concealed by the overlapping lower ends of other shingles constructed in accordance with my invention.

A further object of my invention is to double the speed at which said shingles may be laid as half the nailing is eliminated in the manner previously described. l

A further object of my invention is to provide a shingle having groove means along each side edge thereof to hold flat weatherstrips to render a roof orwall substantially leak proof and obviate, if desired, the use of tar paper or other protective covering formerly thought necessary i for this purpose. i

A further object of my invention is to provide a molded slate simulating shingle which may be attached like a shingle Without `the use of transverse purlins or baseboards except for the lowermost layer of shingles.

'I'hese and such other objects of my invention which may hereafter appear will be best understood from a description of the accompanying drawing which illustrates an embodiment of my invention.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a roof or a side wall of a house covered with my improved shingles with a portion of the layer of shingles broken away.

Fig. 2 is a reverse plan view of such laid shingles with the base for the shingles omitted.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a reverse perspective view of a shingle constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the ilat weatherstrip Which may be inserted in grooves along the sides of adjacent shingles for waterproofing purposes.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing, wherein like characters of reference generally indicate like parts throughout, I0 generally indicates a shingle constructed in accordance with my `invention which may be preferably constructed of asbestos or other suitable molded slate simulating material.

My improved shingle I0 has means I2 projecting downwardly at a. spaced distance from the lower end I4 thereof and at such a spaced distance from the inner 4surface IEthereof as to` form a channel-like pocket I8 for the reception of the thin at upper portion 20ct another similar shingle therein, said downwardly projecting means I2 preferably providing the pocket I8 for this purpose. While I am aware that others have provided downwardly projecting means, they have been so spaced from the portion I6 of the shingle which said means underlies as to provide a channel .HI8 to receive a transverse base board or purlin therein and in the prior art it has been necessary to provide a ytransverse base board or purlin 22 for ea'ch line of shingles. I am the first to conceive the fact that such shingles could be nailed to the roof or a side wall of a building in a similar manner as Wooden shingles. l i

`In constructing my improved shingle in the manner heretofore described with the aforesaid ceive substantially one-half of a fiat weather-` strip 28 inserted therein, thus providing a Weather-proof roof or wall covering and obviating, if desired, the necessity of using tar paper 3U as shown. i y

For this purpose myimproved shingle is preferably triangular in vertical section and to provide the pocket'l I8, it is preferably providedwith the outset rabbet 32 forming said pocket .I8 at the lower end thereof of a depth substantially that of the thickness of the thin upper end 20 thereof and the thin means I2 projecting downwardly from the lower edge of the inner surface 34 of said shingle above said rabbet 32 providing with the downwardly projecting portion 36 of the lower end of said shingle over said rabbet 32 the channel-like pocket I8 for the reception of the flat upper portion 2D of a lower shingle therein.

While my improved shingle may be constructed of triangular shape in vertical section in any suitable manner, it preferably includes a substantially solid triangular inner portion 4I! terminating in a thin edge 42 at the upper endv thereof and of a thickness 44 at the lower end substantially that of the desired pitch of the shingle projecting substantially at right angles inwardly from the outer surface thereof, and the preferably thin substantially solid rectangular outer portion 46 integral with said inner portion 40 and of greater length providing a nail head concealing ridge 36 projecting downwardly above the lower end 34 of said inner portion 40 thereby providing a rabbet 32 below the lower end of said inner portion 4I] to provide a channel I8 between the overlying portion 36 of said rectangular portion 46 and said thin downwardly projecting means I2.

While any suitable type of thin downwardly projecting means may be used, I preferably employ the downwardly projecting prong means I2 which preferably project downwardly from a base [I8 projecting integrally upwardly from the lower edge of the inner surface of said shingle. The prong means may be constructed of any suitable material such as metal imbedded in said shingle.

I have shown in the drawing, my improved shingles forming the covering i'or a roof or a side wall of a building. The building wall 6I), whether it be roof or side wall, is preferably constructed of the Usual abutting flat layer of boards 62. For weather proofing purposes, this layer may be covered with a layer of weather proong tall or other paper or material 36. The layer 64 of shingles is then laid over the paper 30 or layer of board 66 in the usual manner as other shingles are laid. For the lowermost line of shingles a thin transverse purlin 66 is employed of a thickness substantially that of the groove I8. So as to make the lower line of shingles exactly like the upper line of shingles, the lowermost line of shingles 68 is then laidas shown in Fig. l so that the grooves I8 thereof will embrace the purlin 66 and if desired, a line of nails 69 may be employed as shown in Fig. 2, to attach the lower ends of the shingles to the purlin 66, the heads of said nails 69 being the only nail heads visible in the wall covering. The upper ends 38 of this line of shingles are then nailed to the underlying board 66 by the line of nails '10. The next line of shingles 'I2 is then laid over the laid line 68 so that the upper ends 38 of the lower line 68 will be contained inthe grooves I8 of the second line 'I2 and so that the downwardly projecting outer portions or ridges 36 of said line 'I2 of shingles will cover the upper ends 2S of said lower line and conceal the heads of the line of nails 'I0 from view and protect them from rust. The lower ends of the lines of shingles I2 are firmly held `to the laid line 68 by the downwardly projecting means I2 so that the former lower line of nails for each respective line of shingles is no longer necessary. The upper ends 38 of the line of shingles "I2 are then nailed to the underlying board 6G by the line of nails 14. The next upper line of shingles 16 is attached in similar manner as the line of shingles 72.

It is .apparent that I provide a novel type of shingle with the advantages explained above.

It is understood that my invention is not limited to the specific embodiment shown and that various deviations may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A shingle substantially triangular in vertical section having a rabbet on its rear surface at its lower end of a depth substantially that of the thickness of the upper end of said shingle and establishing a shoulder t0 engage with the upper edge of a like previously laid shingle, and a portion to overlie the upper end thereof, and a plurality of thin prongs projecting downwardly in spaced relation to said portion to dene therewith a channel for said upper end and to overlap at a plurality of spaced intervals the rear surface of said previously laid shingle adjacent its upper end.

2. The shingle of claim 1, in which the prongs protrude above the plane of the rear surface of the shingle sufficiently to position the rear surface of 'the shingle in the same plane as the corresponding surface of a previously laid shingle.

ISAAC C. ELLIS. 

